Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-07-25
Reformed.

work, drinking, smoking and talking
.,shop." The conversation had va
{ ried somewhat from its customary
! vein that morning, and after drifting
about In 8 desultory way had finally
/ settled upon the subject Of temper
ance. with one OF our Office compan-
ions figuring as tie horrible exam
+ pie" While we were discussing his
/ infrmities the object OF our by no
means gentle criticisms came in, and
a horrible example he was. Looking
neither TO the right nor 10 the left he
walked with evident signs Of physical
weakness 70 the bar, drank q tumbler-
/ ful OF liquor, and Immediately retrac-
i ed his steps 10 the street
did you notice the size Of the
! drink 2 asked the moderate drinker
/ Of our quartet; ''he has been on this
spree ten davs,and told me yesterday
that he couldn't get sober Small
wonder he can't get sober, firing cart
ridges Of that caliber into himself. /
! advised him TO stop"
/ For man in his condition 10 get
sober isn't as easy an accomplish
ment IS vou can think, said old Bill
Robertson. speaking for the first time
/ in almost an hour. I've been there
myself and know what I'm talking
about. Advising a man 10 sober up
/ is about the cheapest form Of doing
good I know Of. and in most cases
the least productive Of favorable re-
suits. Our friend viii have 10 resort
TO pretty harsh treatment TO get
straightened up, if something doesn't t
supervene TO frighten him into sobri-
ETY., as it did in my case.
Tell Us the story, Bill" we cho-
rused.
s'Wen. It isn't much Of story. but
II Is q true one, and though 1t hap
pened a good many years ago, I'm
not likely 10 forget II, so let's have 3
fresh cigar and III tell you how be
came so efectually sobered up that I
haven't from that day to this felt the
slightest inclination TO take drink. .
Lighting 8 cigar and taking a sip
| Of lemonade from q glass at his el-
bow the old fellow I'VE called him
cid. though he wasn't above 45) told
a story that pointed 8 moral such as
few temperance orators or writer's
have ever arrived at IN depicting the
horrors Of intemperance or the bless
/ ings of sobriety-
I had been q pretty hard drinker
Tor several years DEIOre I found MY
self on a spree that couldn't recover
from In twenty four hours al the far
/ thest. but as time went on found
/ that nv sprees were becoming pro
tracted and recovery from them more
| difficult. That condition Of things l
tried to account for by assuming that
the average quality Of the whiskey
had deteriorated, and probably I was
right. but nevertheless I kept going
from bad TO worse.
In the fall Of 1868 left the mill
tarv service in Virginia, and, after
/ settling nv accounts at the war de-
partment and receiving several
months back salary, came TO New
York. But before leaving Washing
ton I laid the foundation Of the most
persistent, long drawn out, riveted
and clinched drunk that ever took
hold Of q fellow and wouldn't let 90.
Arriving in New York, I hunted
up my old friends. I had no Difficult
" IN finding them IN the condition Of
my finances, and before l was IN the
| CITY q week | was hOpelessly drunk
and broke. l say hopelessly drunk
because. though the fact may not be
generally appreciated, It Is more DIFF
fcult for q man who has been drunk
q week or two to get sober without
money than It Il for him TO continue
his spree indefinitely on the same IN
sound financial basis. The many lit
tie things a man needs as substitutes
for rum and 70 build him up can not
be obtained without money. while b
uuor can easily be obtained BY man
Of large acquaintanees a. easily as
sand on the seashore or poor accom-
modations at a high-prieed summer
boarding-hOuse-
Well, as / have said, found NY
self drunk and broke, and / also
found myself desirous Of getting so
Der and going 70 work Most Of you,
/ presume, would say that gratIfed
nv desire within the next twenty
four hours, but you would be wrong
] didn't, nor did ] accomplish the de-
=FE4 EE5A4b NAL4A1 A4E DE4S E"C
months
What's that Couldn't have tired
very hardg Why, man, ] did nothing
but try. ] couldn't sleep, couldn' t
eat, couldn't think Often after "
ing awake three Or four hours !
would lose myself in sleep and awake
thinking ] had slept several honrs,
only 70 find that hadn't been asleep
two minutes. At other times I'd
awake with 8 start, faneying had
heard q noise Ike 3 thuBderbolt Or
that somebody was pacing heavily up
or down the room, merely 70 discover
that there hadn't been 5 noise louder
than the tread Of Is On pane Of
glass and tiat ! was stark alone.
Finally ] got 50 that was afraid
a r. -.